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Sagging, morality, and exposed breasts
in Culture
Do only Hypocrites want to ban sagging but allow women to expose breasts? Why are we dealing out double standards here?
"The Sagging Trend & Skinny Jeans:Silly Trends or Effeminization of Our Men?
in Lifestyle
The sagging trend...the fashion that involves pants hanging down under the wearer's buttocks exposing underwear. Men AND women of all ages are taking to this fashion, reportedly initiated in prison, and the fashion is evolving into a hot mess. Is this trend simply a harmless fashion phase, or is the rapidly widening acceptance of this fashion on a whole contributing to the effeminization of our men? Join me tonight at 10:30 pm to share your thoughts.
Where did Sagging come from?
Sagging, a fashion trend for wearing pants below the waist to expose one's underwear. Where did this originate?
Sagging Pants: A Fashion Statement Or A Badge of Shame?
in Women
"Sagging" is now a popular look for many urban young men, but some have become fed up with exposed underwear and buttocks. Legislators have proposed that sagging pants be made a criminal offense, punishable by fines. Many realize that this fashion statement was born out of prison culture where wearing pants hanging under ones rear end is an invitation for anal sex. Is sagging a fashion statement or a badge of shame? Do we discourage it by making it illegal? Or will that just criminalize young men even more? Performing artist Karima Muhammad, sister of the late James Brown, is continuing the family legacy of socially conscious music with her tune "PULL UP YOUR PANTS" which is designed to influence young people through the effective means of dance music with a social message.
Sagging: the history-the message-the madness
in Youth
To many people sagging is viewed as; public indecency, uncivilized behavior, and a form of rebellion. Lawmakers and public school legislators have passed bans concerning sagging in public, and all violators could be fined or imprisoned. Is this an example of racial profiling or a needful remedy to institute accountability. Join Ron Zion Roseboro as we discuss a topic that deserves our attention.
Sagging Pants
Sagging Pants discredits your character!
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Why do The Youngsters Wear The Sagging Pants
Let's discuss this rediculous trend of wearing the pants while knowing that your underwear are being shown to the public. Let's talk about where the trend comes from and what does it mean there. Join the show at 6:30pm, call (818)301-5834.
Gay Houses / Sagging
in Radio
Topic Im sure worth discussing. Gay Houses, what is it about them that draws those that join them in? Are they an asset or liability to the LBGT Community. Im sure some of you have your views and opinons on this topic. So tell me whats up. We will also be discussing the trend of sagging. Is it sexy, have some taken it too far or its just down right unappropriate? Tune in on todays show for all this and mode.
GRIDIRONSTUDS: 1.23.15 - College Football, NFL and Sports Talk
in Sports
Call in #247-633-9365
Chad Wilson and Emil Calomino talk the latest in college, pro football and the sports world including:
- Sagging footballs
- Patriots' legacy
- Marshawn Lynch
- College football recruiting
- and more
Listen live at 10 AM
Call in # (347) 633-9365
Twitter: @GridironStuds
Email: firstname.lastname@example.com
You want to lose weight fast? Then just do what I say to do, dang it.
in Weight Loss
Today at Noon US est we will talk more about "fast weight loss". Is it healthy? What about the sagging skin? How about bariatric surgery or getting the sleeve? Pills and potions? Do they work? Let's discuss.
Sagging Is Fagging!
We're discussing where sagging originally came from! Young boys follow young men and say it's a trend, but the trend started in prison! What does your pants revealing your underwear really mean?
The War Against Sagging
in Lifestyle
We've all seen it...kids and even adults parading past you with their pants loosely hanging down past their rear ends and exposing their uderwear in public. Despite the understanding that this is a fashion that orginated from the protocol of hard core prisons, our youth continue to don this trend. Recently, NJ passed a law banning this fashion. Is this an espression of creativity, or are are youth emulating signs of hopelessness?
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subset: commoncrawl


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Surviving Breast Cancer and Your Relationships Too
When I was diagnosed the first person I told was my office manager. Fortunately, she had a friend who was also a breast cancer survivor and she put me in touch with her. I was able to glean a realistic perspective of what I was in for. But more importantly, the office manager encouraged me to take all the time I needed to get well and assured me that my job would be secure while I went through treatment. Since my name isn't Oprah, my boyfriend's name wasn't Stedman -- and I was a single parent, job security was a very real concern for me. (I actually met Stedman later and I just like mentioning this iconic power couple.)
When going through treatment for cancer or similar conditions, physical changes that occur are usually temporary. Once the treatment has been completed, things go back to normal. It takes a little time but the human body is pretty adept at righting itself. It likes to adhere to the original DNA plan of your body's make-up, it knows when you've done something to change it, and it goes to work to fix it back the way it's supposed to be – to the extent that it can be fixed.
Patience really is a virtue and your mate, family, friends and co-workers must exercise the same patience that you must have. When they do, you'll all get through this whole traumatic experience intact. It will be a challenge, but you will have done it together and your relationship might even be stronger for it.


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Celebrity Nails From the Red Carpet | 2013
New Photos! Zoom In on the Hottest Celebrity Manicures
What's Your Reaction?
Thanks for your reaction
Don't forget to share this with your friends!
New Photos! Zoom In on the Hottest Celebrity Manicures
From movie premieres to party appearances, celebrities have perfected their looks down to the last detail: their nails. With the most exclusive access to top nail artists and not-yet-released polish shades, stars know how to create plenty of polish trends. So take note from these tastemakers on everything from pastel colors to intricate designs. Plus, our close-ups show you how to coordinate your fingertips with clutches and jewelry, too. Click through to see our favorite star nails of 2013!
— Additional reporting by Kaitlyn Dreyling, Maria Del Russo, and Rachel Sumner
Celebrity Beauty
Link Love
- How to rock tattoos without the commitment — HuffPost Style
- A moisturizer-foundation hybrid to give you #nofilter-worthy skin — The Cut
- Charcoal isn't just for art projects anymore — InStyle
- From glitter to paint, eyebrows are getting a major makeover — Beauty High
- How makeup artists decide celebrity red carpet looks — Byrdie
- Juicy citrus beauty products that smell as good as they look — xoVain
- Makeup application techniques for seriously dry skin — Daily Makeover
- Beyoncé's stylist proves great hair isn't expensive — Beauty Sweet Spot
- An inside look at being a salesperson at a makeup store — Racked
- Rosie Huntington-Whiteley dishes on her new fragrance — Grazia Daily
Latest Beauty


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Yields on debt of nations including the U.S. and U.K. are at almost the lowest ever because policy makers have been unable to boost economic growth, according to economist Paul Krugman.
German bunds due in 10 years yielded 1.46 percent after falling to 1.43 percent yesterday, the lowest since at least 1989, as Greece failed to agree to a government, threatening to deepen Europe's debt crisis. Treasuries of the same maturity yield 1.78 percent, compared with a record low 1.67 percent in September. Gilts touched 1.89 percent yesterday, also the lowest since at least 1989.
"I don't actually buy the flight-to-quality story, or at least it's way overstated," Krugman, a Nobel laureate economist and professor at Princeton University, said today in a radio interview on "Bloomberg Surveillance" with Tom Keene and Ken Prewitt. "We're all looking like we're heading for lost decades, which means that policy interest-rates are going to stay close to zero for a really long time."
Japan's so-called lost decade during the 1990s saw the economy slip in and out of recession and grow at an average rate of about 1 percent a year after the collapse of a real-estate bubble.
Fed Policy
Federal Reserve policy makers have said they will probably keep their target for overnight lending between banks close to zero, where it's been since December 2008, at least until late 2014 to boost the economy. The Bank of England has kept its target interest rate at 0.5 percent since March 2009, while the European Central Bank reduced its interest rate to 1 percent in December.
Investors are asking "when do you think short-term interest rates are going to rise in the U.S.? When do you think they're going to rise in Germany or in Britain?" Krugman said. "The answer is not for years and years to come. We're all looking like Japan."
The global economy is forecast to grow 2.2 percent this year and 2.9 percent in 2013, according to the median estimate of economists surveyed by Bloomberg. That compares with an average of 3.1 percent for the decade up to 2007.
"Anyplace that has a reasonably stable government, and its own currency and borrows in its own currency, all those interest rates are very low for a very good reason," Krugman said. "The future is looking pretty grim for the real economy in those places."
To contact the reporters on this story: John Detrixhe in New York at email@example.com; Tom Keene in New York at firstname.lastname@example.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dave Liedtka at email@example.com


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Kohls' Corp. (NYSE:KSS)
Q3 2007 Earnings Call
November 15, 2007 5:00 p.m. ET
Larry Montgomery - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Kevin Mansell - President
Wes McDonald - Chief Financial Officer
Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers
[Michelle Penn] – UBS
Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs
Christine Augustine – Bear Stearns
Dana Cohen - Banc of America Securities
Mark Miller - William Blair
Liz Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners
David Cumberland - Robert W. Baird
Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital
Bernard Sosnick - Oppenheimer
Richard Jaffe - Stifel Nicolaus
Michael Exstein - Credit Suisse
David Glick - Buckingham Research
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
Good day everyone and welcome to Kohl's third quarter 2007 earnings release. Please note that today's call is being record. Information provided on this call is related to the press release issued on November 15 for the third quarter fiscal month.
Statements made on this call, including projected financial results are forward-looking statements that are subject to certain risk and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking statements.
Such risks and uncertainties include those that are described in item 1.a in Kohl's annual report in Form 10-K, and may be supplemented from time-to-time in Kohl's other filings with the SEC – all of which are expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Also please note that replays of this call will be available for 30 days but this recording will not be updated, so if you are listening after November 15, it is possible that the information discussed is no longer current.
At this time, I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Wes McDonald.
Wes McDonald
Thank you. With me today is Larry Montgomery, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Kevin Mansell, President.
I will talk a little bit about financial performance for the quarter year-to-date period, and Kevin will go over our merchandising and marketing initiatives and Larry will wrap-up with our store expansion plans, and then some closing comments along with earnings guidance for the fourth quarter.
Sales for the third quarter were approximately $3.8 billion versus $3.7 billion last year, up 4.8%. Year-to-date, sales were approximately $11 billion versus $10.1 billion, up 8.3%. Total sales for the prior year period include $15 million related to the initial recognition of gift card breakage revenue. Excluding this item, total sales have increased 5.2% for the quarter and 8.4% for the year-to-date period.
The third quarter comp sales decreased 2.6%. The comp reflects decreases in average transaction value of 1.8% and in transactions per store of 0.8%. Our year-to-date comp has increased 0.7%, which was a result of an increase in average transaction value of 1.4% and a decrease in transactions per store of 0.7%. Comparable store sales figures were unaffected by the gift card breakage revenue.
Southwest led the Company for both the quarter and year-to-date periods, and from a line of business perspective, accessories led the company for the quarter and men's for the year-to-date period. Our credit share was approximately 45.3% in the quarter and 43.2% in the year-to-date period; this reflects an increase of approximately 170 basis points over the prior year quarter, and 155 basis points over the prior year-to-date period.
Moving on to gross margin, our gross margin rate for the quarter was 37.1%, up approximately 10 basis points from last year. Year-to-date, our gross margin rate increased 70 basis points to 37.6%. Excluding the $15 million gift card breakage revenue in 2006, gross margin increased 32basis points for the quarter and 77 basis points for the year-to-date period.
The improvements were due to the continued impact of our merchandise inventory management initiatives, improved mark-up, the adoption of markdown optimization, and increased penetration of both private and exclusive national brands.
For the fourth quarter we expect our gross margin rate to be flat to last year. On the SG&A lines, SG&A increased approximately 9% for the quarter, faster than sales but lower than our expectations about 12% to 13% over the last year.
Credit and corporate expenses leveraged for the quarter: stores, advertising and distribution centers expenses did not leverage the quarter due to lower than planned sales; our desire to maintain a positive customer and store experience; and incremental marketing expenses associated with the launch of new brand initiatives; as well as our strategy to shift more marketing for new stores to the post-opening period.
Our depreciation expense for the quarter was up $115.2 million versus $94.3 million last year, an increase of approximately 22%. We expect our fourth quarter depreciation expense to be approximately $125 million.
For the quarter pre-opening expenses were $38.3 million this year versus $28.5 million last year; current year expenses were higher than prior year as we opened more stores in 2007 in the third quarter than in 2006 with 95 openings versus 68. Our expectations for pre-opening expenses for the fourth quarter are approximately $8 million.
Operating income for the quarter declined from $369.4 million to $330.9 million for the current year. Year-to-date income was up 9.1% over last year, and operating margin is up approximately 10 basis points.
Net interest expense increased to $18.7 million for the quarter, compared to $10.2 million in the prior year. Year-to-date net interest expense was $39.4 million compared to $30.4 million last year. Our expectation for interest expense for the fourth quarter is approximately $28 million.
Our income tax rate for the quarter was 37.85% and we expect our tax rate to be 38% for the fourth quarter.
Net income for the third quarter was $194 million compared to $224.5 million last year, and year-to-date net income was $672.2 million, up 7.7%. EPS for the quarter was $0.61 compared to $0.68 last year and year-to-date EPS was [cut off in my recording] up 13%.
Moving on to the balance sheet, we currently operate 914 stores compared to 814 stores at this time last year. Square footage for your models at the end of the quarter was gross square footage 81 to 24 and selling square footage of 68 to 33, both up approximately 11%.
Moving to investments, we currently have $26 million in investments compared to $319 million last year. The decrease is the net result of stock repurchases and investment of $1 billion in new debt proceeds in 2007, and $1.6 million of credit card sale proceeds last year.
Our inventories at the end of the quarter were $3.9 billion versus last year's $3.2 billion. On an average store we are up 7.6% from last year, slightly higher than our original guidance of an increase of mid-single-digits per store.
Capital expenditures were approximately $1.3 billion and we will continue to expect capital expenditures of approximately $1.6 billion in fiscal 2007.
Moving on to accounts payable, $1.7 billion versus last year's $1.6 billion. As a percent of inventory, 43.7% versus our guidance of high-forties. This reflects a reduction in receipts as a result of lower-than-expected sales, and we will continue this conservatism into the fourth quarter.
Weighted average number of shares, basic for the quarter $316.9 million; year-to-date, $319.7 million; diluted, $318.6 million and year-to-date $322.4 million. Part of the $2.5 billion repurchase plan that we announced in September, during the quarter we repurchased $4.2 million shares of our stock at an average price of $56.50 per share, for a total of $238 million.
With that, I'll turn it over to Kevin to talk about merchandising, marketing and inventory management.
Kevin Mansell
Thanks Wes. Let me start with sales. As Wes mentioned, comparable sales decreased 2.6% for the quarter. Sales in weather-sensitive business such as outer wear, fleece and sweaters experienced significant double-digit declines on a comparable store basis, contributing to our sales shortfall.
Accessories led the Company for the quarter, with strong performance in beauty, watches and fine jewelry. Better performance in Home, included home décor, bedding and food prep. Men's and footwear outperformed the Company on solid performance in men's casual sportswear and in women's shoes.
In Women's apparel, the updated and contemporary [business], which includes SimplyVera, Vera Wang, and Junior's related separates reported strong comps. Consistent with prior quarters, Classics sportswear continues to trend downward other than Chaps. Children's was the one line of business most affected by the weather with weak comps in all age groups in the quarter.
Given the runaway rate of the business in the third quarter and being conservative in our view, we would expect the following for the fourth quarter. Comparable stores sales in the range of flat to -0.2% for the fourth quarter in total. Our expectation by month would be for November to be positive high-single-digits, December negative mid-to-high single digits and January to be comparable to the overall quarterly comp.
As we look at our performance in the quarter, in spite of the difficult overall business, we were extremely pleased of the performance of our two newest exclusive brands, SimplyVera Vera Wang and Food Network. The response to the initial launch of SimplyVera Vera Wang in September was overwhelming, particularly in apparel and in handbags. All of the other categories performed very well, at or well-above our planned levels.
Food Network was launched two weeks after Vera Wang in September. Food Network is positioned to cross a broad range of product categories including cookware, dinner ware, gadgets and cutlery. We were also very happy with the performance of that brand versus our plans as well.
In addition, the performance of both our jewelry business and our beauty business continued to stand out against our overall business trend. As you know, these are two businesses that we are focused on driving long-term growth with continued changes and improvements in our assortments.
There were also a number of additions to our intimate apparel area in the third quarter. We launched moments, a private brand of intimates in 200 stores in October with an all-store roll-out plan for 2008. In addition, there are two exclusives brands to target more updated and contemporary customers in the intimate area, with Daisy Fuentes and SimplyVera Vera Wang. All three of these new brands are performing very well at this point.
The customer continues to respond well to all of our private and exclusive brand initiatives and their penetration reached almost 39% of total sales for the quarter, up over 300 basis points over last year. As Wes indicated, this continues to be a driver of merchandise margin improvement.
And finally, earlier this week, we announced a multi-year licensing agreement, naming Kohl's as the exclusive U.S. retailer of the FILA SPORT collection. The collection will feature women's, men's and children's apparel, footwear and accessories. It will be available in all of our stores nation-wide, and on kohls.com in fall 2008. We think it's another strong world class brand addition in the area active footwear and apparel which is one of our strongest growth businesses and a broad-based area of growth industry-wide.
Moving on to inventory management, as Wes indicated we finished the quarter slightly over our inventory guidance of mid-single-digits, with 7.6% more inventory per average store. However, adjusting for the calendar shift our inventory levels on a per store basis were only up 2% per store compared to the actual date last year. In addition, we were very conservative in our planning of seasonal categories such as outer wear, sweaters, fleece and cold weather accessories for the Fall and are essentially flat to last year in these businesses.
Overall, I'm very comfortable with our levels with a continued focus on receipt flow we will move through it quickly. Looking forward, I would expect inventory levels to be up low-single-digits on a per store basis versus last year at the end of the fourth quarter. We've adjusted fourth quarter receipts as necessary, to reflect our more cautious sales guidance for the quarter and as I indicated, continue to look to improve our inventory effectiveness.
As Wes mentioned earlier, we expect gross margins to be flat to last year, as we expect a very promotional holiday season.
Finally, on marketing. We continue to be focused on adjustments to our marketing to reflect those things that we are seeing the greatest productivity around. These include an increase in direct mail, particularly to our credit card file; broadcast and the Internet. We have seen and expect to continue to see an increase in the overall promotional environment, and given our value strategy, we adjusted our promotional plans accordingly.
All this has been included in the guidance that I gave from a merchandise margin standpoint, and that Larry will be giving from an earnings standpoint.
We feel that more than ever, there is a clear market share opportunity for gaining additional share of wallet from both new and existing customers. However, we intend to focus our efforts in that regard around those businesses and events that customers are responding to, to the greatest degree.
Let me turn it over to Larry to wrap-up.
Larry Montgomery
Thanks Kev.
Quick update on new stores; we have now opened 112 stores for 2007. It was 7 in March, 10 in April, 18 in fiscal October and 15 this past week in November, and we now operate 929 stores. We expect approximately 90 stores in 2008, including approximately 28 which will open in the spring season, split between March and April. The majority of the stores opened in 2008 will be our 88 thousand square foot prototype with approximately 20% of the total being a smaller 68 thousand square foot prototype.
A few comments on the third quarter before I get into the fourth quarter guidance. Despite a challenging environment, we continue to operate our business in a conservative manner, managing inventory investment as we continue our improvement in gross margin, while reducing expenses where possible without hurting the customers' in-store experience.
We remain focused on our four initiatives: merchandise content inventory investment, marketing and the in-store experience. We believe that we continue to make progress in all four areas, knowing that the customer continually raises her expectations.
As we have said in the past, we're managing the Company on a time-horizon longer than one month or one quarter, and we will continue to make necessary investments in people, infrastructure and stores to achieve our long-range plans. We are well-positioned in our industry with a reputation for great value and our ability to drive business and take market share.
For the fourth quarter, we expect comparable store sales performance, flat to -0.2%. That means total sales increase of 3% to 5%. A flat gross margin, and SG&A growth of approximately 5%. This would result in earnings per diluted share of $1.45 to $1.51 for the fourth quarter. Earnings per share for fiscal 2007 would be in the range of $3.52 to $3.58, an increase of 6% to 8% over last year.
With that, we'd be happy to take some questions.
Question-and-Answer Session
(Operator Instructions)
Our first question is from Dana Cohen - Banc of America Securities.
Dana Cohen - Banc of America Securities
Can you help us understand [] of gross margin over the quarter, because if I think back to the guidance you gave at the end of September, where you were okay with the guidance, your previous guidance, you were looking for significant gross margin improvement, and then came in with the 10 basis points. It would imply that October was pretty tough, so help us understand that relative to the flat gross margin expectations for the fourth quarter.
Wes McDonald
The previous guidance for the third quarter was up 10 to 20 basis points so we did come in at the low end of our guidance, and as I mentioned in the call, taking out that $15 million we were actually up 36 basis points last year so not as dramatic an improvement, versus our trend in the spring, but also remember we started to put stores last year on markdown optimization in the third quarter and we had about half the chain on markdown optimization which benefited us a little bit last year.
Dana Cohen - Banc of America Securities
Maybe go at it another way. We've all seen the commercials with store busters, take another 10% off something you were running last night, should we think that those type of events are now included in the plan?
Kevin Mansell
Well that's what we tried to say on the call; our previous guidance for gross margin, if you remember, was up 30 or 40 basis points, so being flat is going to leave us a lot of room to be very sharp in terms of our value message for the fourth quarter.
Our next question is from Christine Augustine – Bear Stearns.
Christine Augustine – Bear Stearns
Could you update us on markdown and size optimization initiatives and how much do you think that might have helped you in the quarter?
Kevin Mansell
Both the markdown optimization, size optimization continue to be rolled out. In the third quarter, enhanced markdown optimization continued on the store level, and continued to improve the percent of our inventory on size optimization. I would say on the markdown optimization front, it was an element of margin, but as we prioritize them—I think we've always talked about prioritizing [] our overall level of inventory management mix and then markdown optimization comes in underneath both of those—and the size optimization we're focused on more as a sales top-line revenue enhancer, not so much as a margin enhancement in the quarter.
Christine Augustine – Bear Stearns
Kevin, I'm wondering what you are seeing with the classic traditional women's business; it does seem to be a problem across channels of distribution, as you look into '08 and you are placing the forward receipts, do you think there's going to be any break? When do you think things might start to turn there? What can you do in the meantime to offset the weakness?
Kevin Mansell
I think the main thing we're doing to be honest is trying to give the customer what they want. They appear to want more updated and more contemporary offerings and so we, as you know, added on pretty significant new ones in that regard. Elle is another new enhanced brand as we go into '08. Not everything in Classis is disappointing; Chaps has continued to perform well, so I think we've got the right style and fashion and with a good value equation we've been successful.
To me that means we need to find some new ideas to introduce and that's something we're focused on very much on for 2008.
The next question is from Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs.
Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs
Thanks. We've seen traffic being negative for a few quarters this year but it looks like [ticket] this is the first quarter that it turned negative. Perhaps give us a sense what's going on there? I know that the shifts moving more into better and best has obviously been driving [ticket], can you just talk about those categories that are seeing softness there as well.
Kevin Mansell
Obviously something that affected the ticket for this quarter was the weather with not selling a whole heck of a lot of outer wear, long johns or sweaters, those tend to be higher retail than our normal retail, so we definitely saw a big shift in mix in both September and particularly in October.
Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs
And any sense in terms of again this shift towards more into better and best, if you could talk about the health of people spending in those categories.
Kevin Mansell
Better and best both improved as a percent of our total business, as did updated and contemporary as well. I think the primarily driver of a lower average transaction value in the quarter was the mix of what we were selling and the impact of those cold-weather categories definitely hurt the overall transaction, it hurt the average unit retail. If you look at the individual components, we saw a lift into better and best.
Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs
Okay that's helpful. Then, if we think about '08 as we're moving into clearly a tougher sales environment, just gives us a sense what are you working on in terms of the expense structure to perhaps lower or at what point can you start levering expenses, working to bring that number down?
Kevin Mansell
If you do the math on the fourth quarter, our expectations would be to leverage at around a flat count for the fourth quarter. We are currently working on our spring 2008 budgets and we'll wrap them up in the next few weeks, and we are attempting to try to leverage at lower than our historical comp, and working very closely advertising and stores which are the two primary consumers of our expense hours, and we'll try to leverage on a comp that's historically lower than they have been.
Adrianne Shapira – Goldman Sachs
Great thank you.
The next question is from [Michelle Penn] – UBS.
Michelle Penn – UBS
I was wondering, I remember back in fourth quarter you had some shift with reclassifying some of the vendor ads support, helping gross margin and hurting SG&A, is that a factor at all in the quarter?
Wes McDonald
I think that was back in 2005, if I remember; that was that [fabulous DITF02-16] but that shouldn't really affect our fourth quarter margin. As I mentioned earlier, we're giving ourselves a lot of room to be very competitive in the fourth quarter.
Michelle Penn – UBS
The other question I had, there was some reference to being aggressive in terms of managing receipts and addressing inventory issues, obviously there's been a lot of recent weakening and we've heard from some other companies that with lead times where they are, it's difficult to get receipts in line until sometime in '08 unless we see the sales trend improve. So, I was curious, your perspective on what you're able to do, your flexibility versus everybody else with regard to lead times on orders.
Kevin Mansell
I can't really comment on what everybody else's ability to do that is, but I believe you do know that for the last 2 ½ years that's been one of your four big initiatives is inventory management, and that's basically been all about managing receive flow closer to sales, so I think we've done a better job; we're never going to be perfect; some goods do have long lead times and as a result you are further out on them, but I think compared to where we were 2 years ago, certainly compared to where we were 4 or 5 years ago we have an entirely different process, strategy, and really systems support to do so, so I actually feel pretty good about the way inventories are being managed and the way receipts are being adjusted. I think it's showing up in the numbers.
Michelle Penn – UBS
My final question was, you made mention of the fact that part of the reason why inventories are up so much at the end of the quarter is obviously a timing issue. How should we think about that when we look at inventory to payable ratio, because we're trying to get a sense, you know we're hearing from you that the inventory is relatively fresh, and I guess looking at the inventory to payables ratio it seems that things are getting a little more sale, so I guess there may be a better metric to think about that with?
Larry Montgomery
From my perspective you got to cut forward receipts right, so that's not going to be in your payables and so that's one driver of it, and one driver quite frankly of it is, we didn't have a good sales quarter and our vendor partners came through with vendor support and that affects payables as well.
Michelle Penn – UBS
Very helpful. Thanks.
Your next question comes from Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers.
Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers
Good evening. Kevin, to go back to the gross margin—sorry to beat it up—but when you think of the assumptions that you are looking at into the fourth quarter, where do you think the risk is in a flat gross margin, when you look at the competitive environment and the inventory levels. I mean where do you think you might be more aggressive?
Kevin Mansell
The short answer to that question is, we don't see a risk in that number; we wouldn't have given it as a guidance if we felt it was. We've given ourselves room to ensure that we come in on that, and yet still provide the kind of value promotionally that we need to provide.
As I said, if you think about inventory management, categories like the seasonal categories, really entering the quarter with essentially the same level as last year is a really good place to be. And those are areas that you know I think are very at-risk and they do have a tendency if sales don't happen to be more draining. I think the fact that we've managed the levels down we were conservative in our planning to begin with is putting us in a good place. But we've built into that margin guidance what we think is necessary to promote aggressively to get share of wallet and so we feel pretty confident about it.
Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers
Just a question on Vera; how much data mining have you done around new customers that you've drawn into the store on Vera and the opportunity there?
Kevin Mansell
To be honest with you, not a whole lot at this point, we've now had the product in our stores for about 45 days. We definitely looked at the customer basket, we definitely have come away with the conclusion that we're both drawing new customers, [witness] that they are not on our files before then and secondly, attracting more affluent customers that were in our files, but down to the kind of level that I think you're thinking about for the future, not yet, I think we want to see the business continue to develop in the fourth quarter when there's a lot more consumers in the stores and we're going to use that information to really strategize against in spring, but every single number we look at, on both SimplyVera Vera Wang and Food Network is very positive from a customer demographic perspective. It's doing exactly what we set out to do.
Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers
Just one final question on FILA: will you be editing other areas in sort of active wear; other brands out of that side of the business?
Kevin Mansell
There will definitely be editing done in active; I do believe that active, and I think you would probably agree, active apparel and footwear is a growth category overall in the store. If you think about the brands we carry in there, there are two really key brands and one spectacular brand in Nike that of course won't be affected at all. We're growing both Nike and Adidas at a pretty good clip and will continue to do so even with the addition of FILA, but there are other opportunities in there to cut, and then it will benefit from the fact that it's a growth category.
Robert Drbul – Lehman Brothers
Great. Good luck.
Kevin Mansell
We'll take our next question from Mark Miller - William Blair.
Mark Miller - William Blair
A question on your plan for inventory, up low single-digits per store at the end of the year. It seems that in times past that would be equivalent to a sales plan of two to four. I'm assuming that you're expecting sales to be somewhat more moderate than that. Would you be looking at positive comps at the start of 2008 if you could run the inventory the way you wanted it?
Wes McDonald
I think we're being very conservative in our sales planning for 2008. Our expectation is at some point the business will get better. If we do better in sales in the fourth quarter, obviously we'll have less inventory at the end of the fourth quarter.
I think the theme of the day for the fourth quarter -- if it hasn't come through clearly at this point -- is we're being very, very conservative about what could happen in the fourth quarter and hopefully, business will improve as the weather gets cooler. We'll be able to do a little bit better than we anticipated. But right now this is the run rate of our business, and given that run rate this is what be we think we can achieve.
Mark Miller - William Blair
I guess it's probably somewhat obvious at this point, but could you just comment on where we are in November? It sounds like you will be somewhat lower than you wanted to be.
Wes McDonald
We're not going to comment on the current business, but obviously our business is very seasonally related and with the weather getting colder, usually things get better.
Mark Miller - William Blair
You did talk about share repurchase in the third quarter. I know it doesn't impact it dramatically right away, but how should we think about share repurchase going forward?
Wes McDonald
Normally we try not to give you any guidance on that. All of our guidance is based upon no share repurchase assumed and so that's what our guidance is based upon. We'll make a decision in the next few days as to whether or not we're going to buy back shares. We'll have to file a plan as we basically are blocked out of trading windows until we report fourth quarter earnings after Thanksgiving.
Your next question comes from Liz Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners.
Liz Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners
What's behind the reduction in guidance for store openings in 2008?
Can you talk in a little bit more detail about how you've changed in the last four years? Obviously there's a lot more process in place versus 2003 when you had a comp slowdown. But maybe if you could address what you didn't do then that you are doing now? What you would have done then if you had the same process and a little bit better mindset in place, if that makes sense?
Larry Montgomery
We haven't adjusted our guidance for stores for next year. We're on plan as we discussed in our investor conference at the beginning of October. We're going to be at the end of 2012 over 1,400 stores. That's going to fluctuate a little bit by year based on a lot of different things going on out there.
Liz Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners
So what's the 90? 90 is what you have signed for now, but is it possible that we could get to 100?
Larry Montgomery
I don't think that we're prepared to comment on that. We don't have a definite number in mind. We're just being opportunistic and making sure we're able to take advantage of all the opportunities that show up out there. But we're very comfortable with our long-range plan. As you recall over the past three years, we've had some lower years and some higher years and still ended up being exactly where we said we were going to be.
Kevin Mansell
Liz, on the inventory thing I think first of all you know that five years ago we made inventory management one of our four key initiatives to focus on. When we did that, we pretty dramatically increased the structure of the planning and allocation organizations both in terms of numbers and strength. We also implemented a whole series of technology enhancements including things that you're seeing that come to fruition in the last couple years, like markdown optimization or size optimization.
But most importantly, we started down a path of working to continue to reduce our cycle times across the whole store so that we could do a better job flowing receipts closer to sales, less upfront, more as we needed it. I think it's allowed us to more effectively manage our inventories and our business in a way that we just couldn't have done four or five years ago. We didn't have either the capability and people or the skillset or even the technology to do. We're just in a different place today.
Having said that, all of us would tell you we have opportunity to improve in that regard. I'm never happy with the way we're managing our inventories. I think we've got a lot of room to improve there. We're going to continue to focus on it next year, but we're doing a much better job than we ever have before.
Liz Dunn - Thomas Weisel Partners
Can you comment, has the business improved with better weather? Because I think all of us are having a hard time figuring out how much of this is weather and how much is consumer.
Larry Montgomery
So are we. You know, Liz, we don't comment on business during the month but you've seen what happened to our business when weather changes for a lot of years.
We'll take our next question from David Cumberland - Robert Baird.
David Cumberland - Robert W. Baird
Kevin, can you talk about any holiday season specific in-store merchandising initiatives, either related to in-aisle displays or elsewhere?
Kevin Mansell
In terms of opportunities I think the two key categories we called out that I'm really excited about, both because of the trend of business for the year and the trend that actually, to be honest with you, accelerated in the third quarter are jewelry and beauty. Within beauty, particularly fine fragrance. I think you know fine fragrance is a category we dramatically expanded.
As we enter the fourth quarter, both of those businesses' penetration as a percent of our store climbs pretty dramatically. Both of those categories, if you look at our table and tower programs in the store are much more aggressively merchandised. Our inventory levels are up compared to last year, and that's working for us. We think that's a big upside potential for us in the fourth quarter.
The other thing would be our new initiatives. Consistently, the Vera Wang initiative, the Food Network initiative and the Elle expansion initiative are working, and I think they're going to contribute to a greater degree in the fourth quarter as well.
David Cumberland - Robert W. Baird
On the monthly comps guidance for November and December, is the difference versus the full quarter plan entirely due to the calendar shift?
Wes McDonald
David Cumberland - Robert W. Baird
Wes, to clarify on the buybacks, it sounds like you might be establishing a 10b-5 type plan that will allow buybacks after Thanksgiving?
Wes McDonald
That would be correct.
Your next question comes from Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital.
Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital
In inventory, I guess you guys are comfortable with what you're seeing, where even though the inventories are up 7% on a per-store basis, 20% overall, you guys still think you can get flat margins based on how you assess the world out there?
Kevin Mansell
The short answer is yes. I think honestly the way you've got to think about that inventory is, we knew all along we were going to be mid single-digits up to last year in inventory. That was early, way before the third quarter started. That was because of the calendar shift.
The way I look at the inventories is more on a year-over-year calendar date basis, what do our inventories look like? Those are up basically 2%. In the categories in which you have to manage risk more aggressively, seasonal categories, they're essentially flat to last year.
So a lot of our margin guidance, being flat to last year, is about us being aggressive to get market share. It's not about clearing inventories out that we're too heavy in. It's more about getting sales.
Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital
You obviously listen to what Penney is saying, what Macy's is saying what everyone else is saying that they're going to be highly, highly promotional and do everything possible. That's all factored into your game plan where you're going to be competitive price for price, promotion for promotion, whatever?
Kevin Mansell
It's not even about what they say. I mean, I think we've watched with the promotional activity in the third quarter and that's become much more heated. That's just a fact and so we've got to be prepared to do so as well.
Steve Kernkraut - Berman Capital
Because the way you describe it, there doesn't seem to be a down side to it, only the upside. If the consumer's better, we'll have upside to your numbers. But the way you described it, you've been very conservative, creating almost a worst-case scenario in terms of what your margins are.
Kevin Mansell
We think our margins are going to be flat to last year.
We'll take our next question from Bernard Sosnick - Oppenheimer.
Bernard Sosnick - Oppenheimer
I know you're working on your plans for '08 and I don't mean to get too specific, but the first quarter as you look at it, would there be opportunities in terms of the merchandise assortment that you're going to have versus a year ago to improve gross margins, assuming that inventory controls are as careful as you expect to have them?
Kevin Mansell
We're not talking about 2008. Obviously we're working on it internally, but we're focused on achieving and exceeding our guidance for the fourth quarter. When the fourth quarter happens and we get more information about consumer behavior, we'll share with you our view on 2008. We're definitely looking at it conservatively. I think that's the smart thing to do right now, but we're not prepared to talk about our view about the spring of 2008 yet.
Bernard Sosnick - Oppenheimer
Well, let me ask in a different way. You were very savvy in terms of your foresight with respect to seasonal inventories. Spring is usually a shorter season, more volatile in terms of when the weather changes. So in terms of planning conservatively, could you just give us an idea without talking about gross margins of how you're going about thinking of conservative planning other than just containing the inventories?
Kevin Mansell
That was well said, Bernie. The spring season is even more volatile from a weather perspective than the fall season. I think that's how we're approaching our inventory planning, particularly on seasonal categories. We're trying to be smart about it and not put ourselves in a risk position and then chase the business as it happens, if it happens. If it doesn't, we're going to be in a good place. I think that's how we're looking at spring.
Wes McDonald
Yes, in terms of merchandise categories, SimplyVera, Vera Wang, Food Network and Elle will all be new for spring.
Your next question comes from Richard Jaffe - Stifel Nicolaus.
Richard Jaffe - Stifel Nicolaus
I think you guys have done a good job addressing the margin and inventory issues. Just one follow-on question in terms of marketing. Is there some powder dry to spend more on marketing, whether it's direct mail or TV or radio? If things are incrementally tougher than you thought, is there any powder kept dry on the marketing side?
Kevin Mansell
Well, there's always some contingency factor. But I mean there's certainly nothing that I can think of too much that was positive about the third quarter, with one exception, the fact that the third quarter developed slowly from a sales standpoint put us in a position to be upfront and aggressive in our plans. We kind of talked about that in the call; increasing direct mail, particularly around our credit card portfolio, increasing broadcast around our big events.
I think the one thing we were able to do is be proactive in front, which was a smarter way of doing it than an emergency basis at the last minute. I think we feel like we've put those plans in place already. There's always still a little bit of flux and flux you can do, but we feel pretty good with what we have in place right now.
We'll take our next question from Michael Exstein - Credit Suisse.
Michael Exstein - Credit Suisse
You ran a beauty promotion a couple weeks ago. Can you talk about that, what the response was? You added some sales help and direct mail.
Can you give us an idea how you're balancing your increasing penetration -- exclusive brand and private label -- with the gross margin issue? Is there so much gross margin if you act fast enough, if not is it a detriment that we might see on the upside? Thanks.
Kevin Mansell
On the beauty thing, and this is more of a general statement than a specific one, but generally we've had good results when we've intensified it has helped in our stores around specific events. So not in the general rule, but when we know we have a big opportunity around a big event, intensifying the marketing on beauty has clearly helped sales. That's for sure. I'm not sure, to be honest with you, Michael, I understand the second part of that. If you can maybe repeat it, on the private and exclusive brands?
Michael Exstein - Credit Suisse
I think many of us are somewhat concerned that as the whole industry -- yourselves included -- have increased exclusive and private label merchandise as a percent of the assortment that in any slowdown it perhaps could be more detrimental to margins than nationally branded goods, and how you're dealing with that. Is there so much gross margin you react earlier, that you don't have that potential?
Kevin Mansell
I don't think about them any differently than I do the national brands. I view them the same in terms of how we manage our margin opportunity. It's all about building receipt flows that we can adjust. Certainly in some private brand categories, the receipt timelines are a little longer.
Some of the exclusive brands not so much. But it's more about building the organization and the structure and the systems to manage the overall receipt flows. I don't really see it as a big difference. We have the same challenges with our partners, with our brands, that we do with our exclusive brands and our private brands as well. We kind of have one strategy that we apply to all of those elements.
We'll take our next question from David Glick - Buckingham Research.
David Glick - Buckingham Research
A question on the men's business; that's a business that increases in importance pretty significantly in the fourth quarter, particularly December. It sounds like it has weakened relative to the success you were having earlier in the year. Also it seems like there are not as many exciting new brand initiatives as you're seeing in home and in women's and accessories.
Can you comment on some signs of life there that maybe you're seeing recently, with the weather change? Is there a reason to be more optimistic about that key fourth quarter business?
Kevin Mansell
Sure. I mean, men's is actually in a negative environment in the third quarter, I would say, but in that negative environment men's did do better than the store did. So they continued to do better in the third quarter than the store did. On the year basis, they are also doing better than the store did, just to get one thing clear. They clearly are outperforming the store.
Number two, casual sportswear in men's was actually very strong. That's in the face of some pretty tough numbers in categories like sweaters and fleece and outerwear. So we'll see if the weather turns in our favor in the fourth quarter, but I think overall we feel pretty good about the men's performance. It has outpaced the company and continues to outpace the company.
Our final question comes from Deborah Weinswig - Citi.
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
In terms of your credit card portfolio, could you just talk about the experience that you saw there during the quarter?
Wes McDonald
I would say, like other guys that have reported, obviously our share has increased quite a bit over the last year. I think it's probably the most significant share increase we've had in a couple of years.
In terms of revenue, we're seeing good increases there. Our bad debt expense, though it's not really on our books, it did uptick a little bit in the third quarter, but nothing alarmingly. On a year-to-date basis we're actually below our plan in bad debt. I don't think that is going to be an issue for us going forward. I would expect it to rise a little bit, but not significantly.
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
Kevin, you spoke a little bit earlier on the call about beauty. Can you elaborate a little bit more in terms of the strength that you saw there during the quarter?
Kevin Mansell
The fragrance part of the overall beauty business was spectacular, but it's been spectacular all year. I think you know we expanded it quite a bit. We essentially doubled the scale or the footprint in our stores. That continues to perform really, really well. We're pretty optimistic about that for the fourth quarter given the importance of that to consumers at holiday.
But the core beauty business also was positive again. Comp for the third quarter, which we feel really good about, it continues to do better than the store and do better than the categories around it. So it's not just about fragrance. It's the overall beauty business did very well, in addition.
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
Can you also talk about the early response to holiday?
Kevin Mansell
No. I don't think so.
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
Can you even just talk about what you saw through the end of the quarter?
Kevin Mansell
That's a better way to phrase it, Deb. Thank you. It's hard to find a lot of positive things in a quarter in which we had a negative 2.6 comp or a negative 3.8 in October. But there were clearly things that customers loved. Those are things we're trying to build on, we just talked about a couple of them.
I can't emphasize enough the jewelry piece. Jewelry has been strong all year. Jewelry way outpaced the company in the third quarter, again. We feel we've got a really good strategy in jewelry, both in case and out of case, on table and tower for the fourth quarter. It's a business opportunity for us. It's a market share opportunity for us.
So those are things we definitely saw, and that was true in October as well, Deb, that jewelry did very, very well in October. So there are good things, the brands we've talked about, SimplyVera has been spectacular and the Food Network thing has been spectacular as well so there are definitely positives. There's no question about it.
Deborah Weinswig - Citi
Great, thanks so much, and best of luck for holiday.
Wes McDonald
Larry Montgomery
Thanks a lot, everybody.
That concludes today's conference.
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New Revised Standard (NRS) | New International Version (NIV) |
1 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the faithful. | 1 Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints. |
2 Let Israel be glad in its Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King. | 2 Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King. |
3 Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre. | 3 Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. |
4 For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with victory. | 4 For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation. |
5 Let the faithful exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their couches. | 5 Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds. |
6 Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, | 6 May the praise of God be in their mouths and a double-edged sword in their hands, |
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. (New Revised Standard Bible Version Online) | Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide. (New International Version Bible Online) |


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October is Halloween month, but for gamers something even more exciting is brewing – it's Essen Spiel, the world's largest game convention. This year in Essen, Days of Wonder will debut two new products – The Shadows over Camelot Card Game and the Ticket to Ride Halloween Freighter.
Archive for the 'Ticket to Ride' Category
New Days of Wonder Games at Essen
Thursday, October 4th, 2012Pumpkin Power… New Halloween Freighter Ticket to Ride Train & Station Set
Monday, October 1st, 2012Frightful pumpkin trains and spooky stations are scheduled to arrive just in time for Halloween with a new add-on for the Ticket to Ride Series – the Halloween Freighter.
This new set of custom-sculpted trains and stations includes 45 new orange-colored Pumpkin Trains and 3 spooky Halloween Stations. It's a Halloween treat for Ticket to Ride fans worldwide that can be used as a replacement train set for any of Ticket to Ride game or map collection.
Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries – coming back again!
Friday, September 28th, 2012Originally designed only for the Scandinavian market at the request of local distribution partners, smuggled copies of Ticket to Ride Nordic Countries found such a following among Ticket to Ride enthusiasts worldwide that in the fall of 2008 we relented to public demand and released what we'd thought would be a one-time printing of English, French and German copies of the game.
New Ticket to Ride Map Collection – The Heart of Africa
Monday, September 24th, 2012New expansion explores the heart of the continent with new Terrain cards that can double the value of your train routes.
Days of Wonder announces the upcoming release of the 3rd volume in the Ticket to Ride Map Collection – The Heart of Africa. Set in the vast wilderness of Africa at the height of its exploration by intrepid explorers, missionaries and adventurers, this new single-sided board map focuses on the central and southern "heart" of the continent displayed in a vertical map format.
Legendary Asia map goes digital for Ticket to Ride iPad, Steam & Online!
Thursday, August 2nd, 2012Take the mountainous route from Karachi to Kathmandu with Legendary Asia, the first new map to hit the Ticket to Ride digital platforms in 7 years! The Legendary Asia map is available now in several different flavors – as an in-app purchase on Ticket to Ride iPad; from Valve®'s Steam® platform for PC and Mac; and our own browser-based Web Version.
Ticket to Ride Europe fits in your Pocket!
Tuesday, July 24th, 2012If you love playing Ticket to Ride on your iPhone as much as we do (okay, we admit we're pretty biased!), you can probably picture the route from New York to Los Angeles with your eyes closed. You've bested all of the achievements, humbled your friends many times over, and consider Cornelius Vanderbot Jr. to be just a minor annoyance in your quest for rail baron supremacy. We think it's time to give you a new challenge – Ticket to Ride Europe Pocket!
Ticket to Ride is a part of the Indie Bundle VI today on Steam!
Tuesday, July 17th, 2012Our friends at Steam are running Summer Sales on Steam, a different bundle of Indie games promoted every day. Ticket to Ride is part of today's bundle, along with four other titles - DEFCON, Trauma, Space Chem and Aaaaa… for the Awesome.
Ticket to Ride steams onto PCs worldwide today!
Thursday, May 24th, 2012Today Ticket to Ride makes its debut on Steam, the world's most popular PC gaming platform.
The Steam powered version of Ticket to Ride combines the updated graphics and UI design that debuted in the award-winning iPad version with the power features that have made the Online version so popular among PC users. It includes solo and online game play on the classic Ticket to Ride USA map, as well as in-game purchases for all of the digital maps and game modes released for the iPad and Mac App store to date, including USA 1910, Europe, and Switzerland.
Geek & Sundry's TableTop show doubles down on Days of Wonder with Ticket to Ride!
Friday, May 18th, 2012Can Wil Wheaton dominate America's favorite Train Game?
Gaming fans have been raving about the new Geek & Sundry Tabletop show on the YouTube channel. This week, host Wil Wheaton and friends battle for rail baron bragging rights as they play the Ticket to Ride board game.
Ticket to Ride Comes to Mac App Store
Thursday, April 5th, 2012Ticket to Ride is steaming onto the Mac app store with a new Macintosh version that includes solo, hot-seat and online game play on the classic Ticket to Ride USA map. Based on the graphics and design of the successful iPad version, this new Ticket to Ride for Mac also includes in-app purchases for all of the digital maps and game modes released on iPad: USA 1910, Europe, and Switzerland.


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Marketing Services Providers: Separating the Contenders from the Pretenders
May 2014 By Erik Cagle, Senior EditorAsk Steven Schnoll, and he'll be the first to tell you that the term marketing services provider (MSP) is just, well, an awful moniker to hang around the neck of a traditional printing services provider (PSP).
"Printers and marketing just do not go hand in hand," observes Schnoll, the managing director of Schnoll Media Consulting in New Providence, NJ. "Generally, printers are terrible marketers, so why should they attempt to call themselves a marketing services provider?"
Schnoll has a point. While some have done it successfully, the printing community—on the whole—does not boast a reputation in the general business community for being astute marketers of their own products and services. Can we safely presume that they would do a better job with the marketing fortunes of another business in their hands?
By the same token, Schnoll isn't dismissive of the value that marketing-based offerings can provide for printers. Semantically, he feels they're just better off in describing themselves as content services providers.
"It hasn't worked for many organizations," Schnoll says of the MSP tag. "You don't know the first thing about marketing; how are you going to provide your customers with a true marketing plan? You can't event market yourself.
"But you can come to them and say 'I have a portfolio of content delivery vehicles that can help you be successful in your current marketing plan; I'm your go-to partner,' " he adds. "Those who do it successfully are all about content. They can do it with video, Website building, mobile apps—whatever their need for content delivery."
What does it take to justify that MSP tag? A dedicated team, a plan, a course of execution and a healthy dose of cross-media.
Schnoll relates a story about a New England franchise printer (yup, a franchise printer) that came to the rescue of a certain local, prestigious medical school that had a great deal of data, but apparently didn't know how to best leverage the information. Saturation mailings dealing with medical specializations were sent to the masses, which proved to be a waste of time and money for the university. The printer was able to better segment the mailings, incorporate microsites and generally tailor the messages in a more personal way.
"This can be done by anybody, but you must have the creative ability to perform these tasks," Schnoll adds.
The options for an MSP wanna-be are ample. A printer can open its own marketing department and hire/develop the core marketing competencies. It can merge with or purchase an existing agency, or it can strike up a business agreement to work together while maintaining the status as independent concerns.
MSPs Must Walk the Talk
John Foley, CEO of interlinkONE and Grow Socially, plus the author of "Business Transformation: A New Path to Profit for the Printing Industry," has witnessed the avalanche of traditional printers that now characterize themselves as MSPs, yet do little or nothing to justify this distinction. True justification involves a plan; it entails new products and services; and it involves a sales staff that understands how to sell solutions and is adept at consultative sales.
"The most successful folks I see have identified that they need a plan, can execute the plan, and that they require the right staff," he says. "With that, they've changed messaging, are doing a better job in inbound and outbound marketing, and they're wrapping their hands around their Website and content marketing. Those are early adopters.
"The people who failed (as MSPs) added it the same way that they add equipment," he notes. "Take personalized URLs. They bought software because they thought it would be a magic bullet to produce revenue. It's a value-added service, it's relevant…so how come it never took off? Because they just took people, sometimes prepress staff members, and said 'OK, you're going to make the landing pages.' But you need different skill sets."
Foley sees pros and cons in aligning with existing marketing firms, and he feels there can be opportunities for printers that aren't afraid to have people work remotely. From a capex standpoint, adopting marketing capabilities, depending on a company's current level of marketing engagement, could run between $20,000 and $150,000, according to Foley. A strategic road map to a successful conversion could take as long as two years.
Foley takes issue with a print shop that acquires a digital press and instantly declares itself a marketing services provider. Do they know data, and can they operate within the discipline of variable data printing? A digital press is a good start, he says, but not a means to an end.
In general, it's not only important to extend the messaging regarding your capabilities to your customer and prospect base, it's also vital to ensure that everyone in-house is attuned to what your organization is trying to accomplish. Keeping employees in the loop and part of the change that's permeating your organization can help to avoid the "this isn't the way things are done" internal protests.
One organization that took the "home grown" approach is The YGS Group, a firm which breaks down its offerings into three buckets: marketing services, publishing solutions and printing. Jim Kell, CEO of the York, PA-based operation, notes that his marketing department started out as one person roughly 10 years ago. Today, the marketing arm of YGS consists of more than 40 employees.
An important distinction, Kell says, is that conversations with clients are never led by "what is your printing need?" Rather, echoing Foley's sentiment, it concentrates on consultative selling and drilling down to discover what message the client is ultimately looking to deliver. "We talk only about their goals to sell more products, services, memberships, and increasing attendance or responses."
During the 10-year process that has brought The YGS Group to this juncture, the company experienced a number of challenges. They include:
- Training traditional salespeople to sell entirely differently and to become proficient in areas other than printing. Kell says this took many years.
- Hiring the right people for the job. Kell points out that qualified marketing professionals are more expensive and harder to find than production plant personnel. "An MSP should be prepared for higher payroll costs and should not try to take the cheap way out," he adds. Marketing professionals routinely earn in excess of $50,000 per year.
- The marketing culture is a different animal, quite different than that of a printing atmosphere. "Everything—from personalities, dress styles, office requirements and environment, headphones, cell phones and work hours—is different. But it's very important they work together and that the cultures blend."
- It takes time, according to Kell. MSPs will spend time and money for years before they are likely to see a return on investment.
While The YGS Group was still in its growth phase, the company would outsource marketing work in areas where he felt his company lacked sufficient expertise. It was a practice that diminished over time as The YGS Group built its marketing core. He also points out that an MSP will have to outsource some editorial and content writing in order to find experts within a customer's field.
Kell's advice to newcomers is to not take the marketing endeavor lightly. "You need to have the expertise for a complicated multi-channel marketing project," he stresses. "Your customers need to see that you're serious or you'll never get a shot at their lucrative campaigns and programs. Otherwise, you might find yourself stuck designing postcards and competing on price against the designer working out of a garage."
One Midwestern printer found marketing to be the key to extending its relationships with current clientele. GLS Cos., the pride of Brooklyn Park, MN, relishes its ability to problem solve for customers, but Jayme Wisely—president and COO of the firm—admits GLS was a little shy when it came to shaping strategy at a higher level.
Now, more than a year after acquiring marketing specialist Next Communications (now called Next), GLS Cos. has shifted its value proposition to the ideas-through-implementation mantra, where it can help global clients coordinate and execute campaigns through any channel necessary.
The timing was critical, Wisely says, as many existing clients and prospects emerged from the 2008-2010 super slump much smaller in manpower, particularly within their marketing departments. But, they still craved the ability to drive their brands and messaging. GLS Cos. can provide that guidance, help deliver results by leveraging the power of social media or search engine optimization (SEO) and the many newer channels that are being exploited to help embolden message delivery.
"The communication channels are more fragmented today," Wisely notes. "There are a lot more ways of communicating, but how do you know if they are effective? So, out of that greater need for brand messaging and improved ROI, we launched into becoming an MSP/global solutions provider."
Next brought a wealth of capabilities to the fold, including strategy, creative, content, publicity, digital media, social media, SEO, media placement, metrics and reporting—all as it relates to execution of the strategies. It also boasted 20 years of experience in helping well-known brands in the marketplace achieve their goals.
For Wisely, it made more sense to bring aboard an existing marketing expert as opposed to spending the time necessary to get a greenfield operation thriving. "If you find the right person to lead that organization, it's 24 to 36 months before you get any real traction. Then, the sales cycle is a 12 to 18 month proposition. Basically, you're now out there five years and the marketplace might blow right past you."
In the final analysis, Wisely says, it's not just about having a set of capabilities; it takes a company that can strategically weave these capabilities together in the name of a marketing plan. Early in the process, GLS realized it didn't have the mindset to think like a marketer or an agency. It needed to bring that capability in-house.
"I've seen too many company Websites where they claim to be an MSP, but it's not authentic," he says. "It's just a facade they're putting out there to say they can do creative, Websites or whatever. The integration of the marketing strategy, from beginning to end, is very fragmented and, over time, customers will sniff that out. They'll figure out you don't really have your act together." PI


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Gear Review
cute but slightly annoying
I bought these in brown and they are really cute on but the straps are not sewn down so they constantly slide and bunch together. I still wear them a lot because they're really comfortable and go with a lot but constantly adjusting the straps.
View More Details on Volcom Wonderland Creedlers Sandal - Women's


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Search the Collection
Charles Long, 1st Baron Farnborough (1760-1838), Paymaster General, Chief Secretary for Ireland; MP for Rye, Midhurst, Wendover and Haslemere; art connoisseur
Sitter in 10 portraits
Charles Long was a Tory statesman. The personal friend of Pitt, he held various offices from 1806 until 1826, when he was created a peer. In retirement he devoted himself to the arts, acquiring a considerable collection of pictures and sculpture. Long was an acknowledged connoisseur and a friend of George IV whose taste he influenced in the decoration of the royal palaces. He was a trustee of the National Gallery and the British Museum.


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Conquering TB is everybody's business
01 October 2013
Tuberculosis (TB) is still the most common opportunistic infection and cause of death among people living with HIV. While TB is curable and HIV is treatable, too often people do not access services quickly enough. More has to be done to fight these two diseases, and community organisations have an important role to play.
Delegates are preparing to meet in Paris at the end of this month for the 44th Union World Conference on Lung Health. There they will discuss the latest research and programme developments in tuberculosis (TB) and lung disease.
Present will be Zahedul Islam, Alliance Ukraine's director responsible for HIV and TB integration programmes. He will present details of Alliance Ukraine's transition from being an HIV-focused organisation, to one that now integrates TB programming alongside its HIV work – something he says has not come about quickly or easily:
"Tuberculosis is an acute and complex problem for people living with HIV in Ukraine. Sufficient time and a holistic approach are needed for TB service integration, which we pioneered back in 2004 under our Global Fund Round 1 programme.
Once it was made a strategic approach, momentum grew. We pursued partnerships and funding in order to be able to provide direct services, and played a significant role in catalyzing the active participation of civil society in HIV and TB service integration."
However, there is still much to be done. By the end of 2012, only 54.8% of those with both TB and HIV had received treatment for both infections.
The role of community organisationsGiven their vital role in strengthening formal health systems, there is an urgent need for other HIV focused community-based organisations to actively engage in providing TB services.
Dr Gitau Mburu, senior advisor on health systems and services, says: "Community-based organisations are a vastly under-utilised resource that can help take the fight against TB to the next level. However, most do not know how to start TB programming, and many national TB programmes do not have experience of working effectively with community groups."
A new resource
To help tackle this need, the Alliance – in collaboration with PATH – produced a new Good Practice Guide on Community-based TB and HIV integration. It draws on the expansive global experience of both organisations in order to provide guiding principles and practical steps to integrate TB into HIV programming.
Dr Mburu (co-author of the Guide) explains: "The resource is filled with the direct experiences of community-based HIV service organisations (such as Alliance Ukraine) around TB advocacy, communications, social mobilisation and service delivery. It is a practical, hands-on tool any organisation can use to plan and implement effective TB and HIV activities."
The Guide also offers sensible advice on how community-based organisations can work collaboratively with national TB programmes in their own countries.
Drawing on the global experience of the Alliance
The Alliance is present in 15 of the 22 high burden TB countries. It is an active contributor to global TB policy through the work and experience of its partners across the globe. We are a member of the TB and HIV working group of the STOP TB partnership, and an active participant in the TB TEAM, the technical support mechanism for Stop TB partnership. The Alliance also provides general technical support through its Regional Technical Support Hubs.
An end to TB in our lifetime
Alongside our civil society partners, we advocate for additional funding for TB and HIV programming at the global level. Just last week, we applauded the UK government's announcement that it would provide $1bn to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. This followed many years of joint work with others across the UK and internationally and will allow the Global Fund to deliver its full potential of bringing these three diseases under control.
As the foreword* in the Good Practice Guide says: "We want to end TB in our lifetime. We know it's possible if we all work together towards this common goal."
* By Dr Lucica Ditiu (Stop TB Partnership), Dr Frank A Bonsu (National TB Control Programme, Ghana) and Ms Carol Nawina Nyirenda (Community Initiative for TB, HIV/AIDS and Malaria, Zambia)
Useful links
- Read more Facts about TB on the Stop TB Partnership website or in the WHO Global Tuberculosis control 2011 report.
- Read more about the Alliance's approach to TB and HIV integration here.
- Alliance Ukraine has documented its journey to integrate TB and HIV in a new case study, Strengthening HIV-TB integration in Ukraine. This report highlights key issues and challenges for other HIV focused community-based organisations to consider as they start their TB work.
- Each Alliance Good Practice Guide is accompanied by a set of programming standards. The guides contain the information, strategies and resources to help those who are implementing programmes to meet these standards. [add link]


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Election Of Evil
by Dave KochThis page has been viewed 7 times this month, and 359 times total.
Film Roman Productions, Marvel Animation
Charles Adler
Mitch Schauer
Dana C. Booton, Leanne Moreau, Cort Lane, Alan Fine, Simon Phillips, Eric S. Rollman, Joe Quesada, Stan Lee
Matt Wayne
- 2009
- Film Roman Productions, Marvel Animation
- Cartoon Network
- The Super Hero Squad Show Episode Guide
- Cartoon Characters: Dr. Doom, Melter, Wolverine, Abomination, Thor, Ms. Marvel, Enchantress, Iron Man/Tony Stark, M.O.D.O.K., Captain America, Egghead, Mayor of Super Hero City, Wasp, Hawkeye, Dr. Strange, Bulldozer, Hulk, Human Torch.
- Vocal Talent: Charles Adler (as Charlie Adler) (Dr. Doom, Melter), Steve Blum (Wolverine, Abomination), David Boat (as Dave Boat) (Thor), Grey DeLisle (Ms. Marvel, Enchantress), Tom Kenny (Iron Man/Tony Stark, M.O.D.O.K., Captain America), Wayne Knight (Egghead), Stan Lee (Mayor of Super Hero City), Jennifer Morrison (Wasp), Adrian Pasdar (Hawkeye), Roger Rose (Dr. Strange, Bulldozer), Travis Willingham (Hulk, Human Torch).
- Directed By Mitch Schauer.
- Produced By Dana C. Booton.
Associate Producer: Leanne Moreau.
Supervising Producer: Cort Lane.
Executive Producers: Alan Fine, Simon Phillips, Eric S. Rollman.
Co-Executive Producers: Joe Quesada, Stan Lee. - Written By Matt Wayne.
Additional Crew:
- Story Editor: Matt Wayne.
- Casting Director: Jamie Simone.
- Animatic Editor: Matt Barrios.
- Production Manager: Suzannah Szabo.
- Dialogue Recording Engineer (Studiopolis, Inc.): Eric Lewis.
- Dialogue Editors: Suzanne Goldish, Mike Garcia.
- Visual Effects: Thomas D. Moser.
- "Hero Up! Super Hero Squad Main Theme" Written By: Parry Gripp, David Ari Leon.
- "Hero Up! Super Hero Squad Main Theme" Performed By: Parry Gripp.
- Production Accountant: Rob Renshaw.
- Executive in Charge of Production: Jay Fukuto.
- Voice Director: Jamie Simone.
- Production Management: Suzannah Szabo.
- Production Coordinator: Tina D. Wantig.
Submit Additional Information:
Cartoon Summary:
The Mayor's re-election bid goes awry when Egghead wins by a landslide (thanks to a little mass mind-control). But his reign at city hall makes life in Super Hero... (more)
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Mailing Software Demos Added to Educational Session at On Demand 2009
February 5, 2009• Understanding Variable Data Processing (VDP) through "VCD": Dr. John Leininger, Professor, Clemson University.
Discover how to utilize variable data to create customized direct marketing campaigns. Understand how to communicate the latest personalization techniques to your clients. And see how to build and present an effective ROI-based sales tool for digital print applications.
On the Conference side, in addition to the Mailing Intensive program, the Mailing Education track of conference sessions at On Demand will take attendees from concept to mailbox, explaining mailpiece design, mailing software, database management, Variable Data Processing (VDP) for mail, marketing of mailing services-all of the steps that a printer needs to take to quickly move into this profitable arena. The Mailing Intensive seminar, as well as all sessions in the entire Mailing Education track, are targeted for printers who currently mail, printers who are expanding into mailing, or the mailing company looking to enhance existing capabilities, reduce current expenses and increase future profits.
For more information about the On Demand 2009 Expo and Conference, including the Mailing Intensive and Mailing Conference Track, go to www.ondemandexpo.com.
According to Mary Ann Bennett, President and CEO of The Bennett Group, and founder of the Mailing Training Institute, "There is a very real need for this knowledge about Mailing in the print industry. Printers realize that in order to survive and thrive they need to expand into Mailing and other related services. We are very excited that these select mailing software developers have agreed to present their products to conference attendees in this unique format. It is an industry first and the first time ever that conference attendees will be able to see the software packages presented side by side. It is a wonderful opportunity for the attendees to view the applications themselves and to interact with representatives from all of the companies in one room at the same time. Our firm is pleased to bring this unique addition to the ON DEMAND Conference. It is not to be missed!"
Also integral to The Bennett Group's commitment is increasing mailing education for the academic arena. Using this Mailing Education track as a real-life learning experience, several students from the Variable Data Creative Inquiry class at Clemson University, Clemson, SC are involved in all production aspects for this conference track. "I believe that education in direct mail marketing is critical and I believe that Clemson University can serve as a model for other colleges and universities to incorporate mailing education into their curriculums," said Bennett.
Bennett states, "Our firm is committed to increasing the availability of mailing education in all forms and across all learning platforms. Given that commitment, we will take our mailing training programs wherever we need to go."
About The Bennett Group, Inc.
The Bennett Group's Mailing Training Institute is the only facility that provides hands-on training on the production floor and in the classroom for the industry's leading mailing equipment and software. All training course modules are written and produced with a constant focus on the economic factors and concepts involved in the business of mail. Located in Rochester, NY, the 6,000 square-foot facility features state-of-the-art classrooms, labs, conference rooms and offices designed and equipped for employees and vendors to innovatively and aggressively develop products and services that encompass all aspects of the business of mail. Products developed at the facility include textbooks, publications, kits & templates, on-line forums and web-based seminars. The Bennett Group also presents educational courses and sessions at national and regional conferences, conventions, meetings of the direct mailing industry, and Clemson University at Clemson, SC.
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Monday, July 21 10:52:04
Meteor has announced a new three-year deal with HEAnet to provide mobile broadband for over 60 educational institutions around Ireland.
HEAnet is Ireland's National Education and Research Network, providing Internet, associated ICT and e-Infrastructure services to Educational and Research organisations throughout Ireland.
Over 180,000 students and 24,000 staff in third level universities and colleges will benefit from a tailor-made mobile broadband package from Meteor. 50,000 teachers from second and third-level schools and colleges will also be able to avail of the deal.
Director of Meteor Mobile, Niall Dorrian, feels that the partnership is a natural fit for both organisations. "Meteor is delighted to partner with HEAnet to provide great value mobile broadband to students and teachers nationwide, supporting our strategy to create ubiquitous wireless broadband access across Ireland".
"We have invested heavily in the Meteor network, and as a result our customers were the first in Ireland to experience 4G. We are very proud to own the largest 4G network in the country and this network will be a great asset to mobile broadband users who can experience seamless superfast broadband on the go - transforming research and study for students and staff in third level institutions all over the country".
HEAnet is Ireland's National Education and Research Network, providing cutting edge Internet, associated ICT and e-Infrastructure services to Educational and Research organisations throughout Ireland.
John Boland, Chief Executive of HEAnet said: Today's student requires every increasing access to e-learning platforms and online research and collaboration tools. This new 3-year deal with Meteor can facilitate this and more on their 4G network.
Details of Meteor's offer to students and staff of third level, as well as teachers in second level schools, will be announced in Autumn 2014.


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This is truly EPIC #TheRidge
This is truly EPIC #TheRidge
Sometimes you'll see things that will blow your tiny little mind and sometimes you'll see things and think what the fuck was that?!
This will make you do both.
What a way to start 2014 – KR3W and Palace rider Chewy Cannon has released an exclusive part with Transworld titled Transmission. This dude rides SO fast it's insane, so fucking gnarly.
I'm back again this month with more skateboarding and music bloggage to clog your brain. Check below for some world skateboarding news, my news and what's going on in the underground music scene at the moment. Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @dogger for a constant update of world domination. BOOM!
If you've not picked up the new issue of FRONT, then what the fuck are you doing?! You could have already read an interview with Bird Man Jr, Riley Hawk in our Dude Of Sport feature. In it he talks about growing up as the son of the biggest skateboarder in the world and his Baker homies. It's a fucking good read… so do the right thing.
It just so happened he turned 21 this past Friday and The Boss himself turned him pro on Baker! Beleedat! As well as that he picked up Year's Best AM from The Skateboard Mag too. Happy fucking birthday Riley and well done!
Watch a video RIDE caught from the moment it happened after the jump and GO BUY THE NEW ISSUE OF FRONT THAT'S OUT NOW or download it for tablets and iPads HERE!
We all know Rune Glifberg (yeah, the dude from Tony Hawk's) is from Copenhagen, right? And we all know that he's sponsored by Volcom, right? Now that's cleared up watch this edit above of Rune, Harry Lintell, Charlie Birch, Nick Stansfield and Parlour Skate store's own team riders Chris Oliver, Jak Pietryga and Dan West ripping up the capital of Denmark.
WOWOWOWOWOW, CAN YOU SEE THAT? Did someone get Burton to ask every employers nan to add a patch to one of their jackets? Good lord.
The Winter Olympics start in a month or so in Russia and Burton have released the official kit that the US Snowboard team will be wearing. It's the third consecutive Winter Olympics that Burton have made a one-of-a-kind uniform for the riders. This time round they've turned to America's heritage for inspiration on this mindfuck set of outerwear. Patchwork quilts and the American flag are both at the heart of the 2014 gear.
We'll give 'em one thing, we definitely haven't seen anything like this before on the slopes – let alone the Olympics!
You've outdone yourselves Team USA.
The Nike SB Chronicles Vol 2 featuring the new breed of Nike SB skaters looks to be a fucking belter of a video with the likes of Luan Oliveira, Daryl Angel, Donovon Piscopo, Theotis Beasley, Justin Brock, Shane O'Neill and Ishod Wair all having full parts.
This Sunday in London get down to Baysixty6 as they'll be showing the video, which is the UK premiere. And they'll be showing the Tampa AM 2013 straight from Florida which will be in its final day. The contest is always a stupidly good watch.
Real skater Ishod has is one of the five nominated to win the SOTY and from what has been posted on social networks and what people want… he seems to be a strong contender.
Check the trailer out after the jump, all the info you need is in the flyer above.